It’s 2020 and ecommerce shops are walking over every business in the industry. The reason why they are doing this is because building a strong online brand that customers will love and trust is what Google is all about.
This will leave small businesses in the back if they don’t start building an online strategy for success. The truth is, small businesses have limited finances and resources to pay for expensive ads to have Google push them higher on the search page results and in front of the potential customers. So, how can they catch up in the game. The answer is with SEO.
SEO or Search Engine Optimization is the process of optimising the website to rank higher on the search page results organically.
This means that with a powerful SEO strategy and optimising the website (on-page SEO) as well as building references from authoritative sites (off-page SEO) any business will have the chance to rank high. Even small business. And here are 5 key reasons why small business desperately need SEO to succeed.
1. Organic Web Traffic is the Most Important and Profitable Traffic
Lately, paid ads on social media as well on Google seem to have occupied the central spots on the screen when we get the search results for what we are looking for. However, how convincing are they? Statistically, the majority of people will skip the paid ad and check out the top organic positions of the results. That is why ending up among the top positions is utterly important. By being there, it means that your website provides relevant info or answers for the things they were searching for. And that is why they are most likely to click on the link.
On the other hand, the paid ad is carefully written and powerful set of words that target the audience for what the audience wants to see and offer them something they need. Still, the fact that this is a paid advertisement throws a great deal of doubt in the eyes of the audience since of course the ad will say that the company is the best and offer the most quality service or products.
2. Trustworthy and Reliable Website
The second reason is tightly connected to the first one. What happens when you have a strong SEO strategy is organically ranking to the first ten positions (the first page) of Google Search Page Results which leads to building a trustworthy and reliable brand of your website. Plus, an SEO optimised website is fully functional, easy to navigate and creates engaging and pleasant user experience. Once the customer completes a purchase from the website and is satisfied with the whole shopping experience, they will return again and again – which is how a trustworthy and reliable website is made.
3. Local SEO for Small Businesses Targets the Audience More Precisely
When you come to think about it, if you are a small business competing with huge businesses online you will probably be walked over and end up on irrelevant. After all, the huge companies have the money and the team to work out every single detail and because of that, they have a head start.
However, if your small business has an SEO strategy that is designed to impact locally, then you have the chance to get to your targeted audience and offer the right service and products for them. Local SEO not only means better target but also increased engagement, traffic and eventually conversions.
By locally optimising the strategy, your small business gets the chance to offer its services to an audience from a specific town, city, region or country. This is done in a way that the content is optimised to include geographical search terms and local listings are filled out that help you become visible to relevant locations and business sectors.
4. Long-Term Results
SEO is not a one time thing. It takes time to give results but the best of all is that these results are also long-term. There are so called “SEO specialists” who manage to achieve great results in a very short time but unfortunately, the formula for success is always against Google rules. This is called Black Hat SEO and even though you can see your website at the top position on Google, you will eventually be noticed by Google and penalised. Worst case scenario, your website might even be banned.
Turning to White Hat SEO, which is the total opposite of Black Hat SEO, you can rest assured that the results will come with quality work on the website and off-page and these results will last.
5. SEO is Cheap
All things considered, SEO is cheap. It is certainly cheaper than paid ads on social media or Google. Plus, the credibility your brand receives with a good strategic SEO plan pays off every single penny that is spent. The bottom line is that your business will have return of investment in the long run and keep the results and great ranking even longer.
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